Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith is escorted off the field after his ejection for shoving an official. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Dressed in a wool sweater while most of his teammates were still in the showers, Vikings safety Harrison Smith already seemed set apart from a victory he'd helped cultivate Sunday, Oct. 7.

Smith recovered a fumble in the first quarter of the Vikings' 30-7 win over the Tennessee Titans, setting up the team's first touchdown drive. But it was an incident in the second quarter of that game that marked Smith's day -- and could keep him removed from on-field action for another week.

The rookie safety was ejected with 11:31 left in the second quarter for making contact with back judge Steve Freeman after cornerback Antoine Winfield intercepted a third-and-19 pass.

Smith was contrite after the game, blaming himself for the incident and saying he'd accept whatever discipline the NFL handed down. But if he is suspended for next week's game against the Washington Redskins, it would leave the Vikings thin at a position where they're already battling injuries.

"Right at the time I touched him, I realized, 'That's an official,' " Smith said. "I should never have been there. I just want to play next week and help the Vikings win."

Smith was in a scrum with four Titans players after he pushed Tennessee wide receiver Nate Washington in defense of Vikings cornerback Chris Cook, who had traded shoves with Washington after the play.

Freeman rushed in to separate Smith from the Titans players, driving him back from the group. As he did that, Smith pushed him to the side like he was taking on a blocker.

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When he got to the sideline, he found out he'd been ejected from the game.

"It was just stupid for me to even be involved," he said. "I got caught up in the heat of the moment. At the end of the day, you can never touch the officials. They have a hard enough job as it is, and to make it harder on them is just stupid. It's something that I don't ever have to do again, from this point on."

Referee Jeff Triplette said after the game that the ejection was automatic once Smith made contact with Freeman, adding that he was fine with how forcefully Freeman pushed Smith away from the Titans players.

"He was just trying to separate from the huddle," Triplette said. "He (Smith) can't be shoving him (Freeman) aside."

In his first five games, Smith has made himself a fixture in the Vikings' defense largely because of his physical play. He broke up a touchdown pass with an end-zone hit on Detroit's Calvin Johnson last week, and he leveled Titans receiver Kendall Wright with a midair hit in the first quarter Sunday. But he admitted his emotions got the best of him on that one play, adding that he apologized to coach Leslie Frazier about it.

If Smith is suspended, it could affect a Vikings secondary already dealing with injuries to Mistral Raymond and Andrew Sendejo. Robert Blanton filled in at free safety for the rest of the game Sunday, but he was the last available safety the Vikings had.

Minnesota's pass rush kept Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck from going after Blanton in the second half, but the Redskins could target him if they have a whole week to prepare.

On Sunday, though, the immediate effect of the incident was that Smith couldn't finish a game in which he appeared ready to excel.

"From everything I've been told, it was a justifiable ejection," Frazier said. "I mean, you can't touch the officials. It's just not smart on our part, and we've got to learn from it. It's just not smart -- not smart football."